'Tis the Season in Victorian London. Oh, not the Christmas
season, but the spring time of the year when all the
eligible young ladies and men flock to London for teas,
garden parties and balls in hope of finding a suitable
mate. This year, Hannah Reid, Duchess of Dunbarton, has
come in search of a lover. She is not looking for a
husband, as she was widowed a year ago, spent her year of
mourning and is finally free to live her life as she
chooses.
Hannah married the Duke of Dunbarton when she was only 19,
and he was 54 years her senior. Most believed it was only
for the title and his money, but she became quite fond of
the duke, and he taught her everything she knows about life
and how to live it. She had been completely faithful to
him, and now she is ready to spread her wings. She has
chosen her lover already; he just doesn't know it yet.
Mr. Constantine Huxtable is in London for the Season just
to enjoy taking a lover and to attend all the festivities.
He has a reputation as a dark, sinister man, full of
secrets. Hannah, the Duchess, has developed the persona of
an ice queen over the years of her marriage and holds
secrets of her own.
Hannah begins a game of sorts with Constantine, putting off
his offers and invitations. But he catches on quickly and
turns the tables on her. Sooner than she expects, she ends
up in his bedchamber. Night after night, they rendezvous at
his home. However, those late nights turn to endeared times
of meaningful conversation, and the hard shells of their
lives begin to soften and peel away. And what is each of
them finding? Is it a longing for a real relationship? Is
it true love? Will their secrets keep them from ever
finding and embracing love?
Mary Balogh has masterfully woven a romantic tale of
the importance of family, of compassion, and of love and
forgiveness in this fifth book in her series about the
Huxtable family. A SECRET AFFAIR will not disappoint, and
you'll be pleasantly surprised by the "secrets."
“The Devil was about to be tamed.”
Her name is Hannah Reid. Born a commoner, she has been
Duchess of Dunbarton ever since she was nineteen years old,
the wife of an elderly duke to whom she has been rumored to
be consistently and flagrantly unfaithful. Now the old duke
is dead and, more womanly and beautiful than ever at thirty,
Hannah has her freedom at last.
And she knows just
what she wants to do with it. To the shock of a conventional
friend, she announces her intention to take a lover—and not
just any lover, but the most dangerous and delicious man in
all of upper-class England: Constantine
Huxtable.
Constantine’s illegitimacy has denied him
the title of Earl, so now he denies himself nothing . . . or
so the ton would have it. Rumored to be living the free and
easy life of a sensualist in his country estate, he always
chooses recent widows for his short-lived affairs. Hannah
will fit the bill nicely.
But once these two
passionate and scandalous figures find each other, they
discover that it isn’t so easy to extricate oneself from the
fires of desire—without getting singed. For the duchess and
the dark lord each have startling secrets to reveal, and
when all is said and done, neither will be able to say which
one fell in love first, who tamed whom, and who has emerged
from this game of hearts with the stronger hand.
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